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November Thanks #19 | 3 Gifts of Autumn

A thirty-day exercise in pausing, reflecting, appreciating, and giving thanks for simple things.

Finding gifts in autumn is a challenge for me. Everywhere I look I am reminded of death and the end of things. It doesn’t help any that autumn is the time of year when both of my parents died, and perhaps that’s why I usually only see the depressing, dark images of autumn. But given some thought, I was able to come up with three things that are associated with autumn for which I’m thankful.

Some years the colors of autumn are muted, lifeless. This year, they were fantastic and my photo hardly does the scene justice. Everywhere you looked, nature’s gifts were on display. I had a blast taking the photo above because of the person who skated through the moment. Check out the story.

With autumn comes the gifts of harvest and the flavor of pumpkin is added to everything. I even saw pumpkin-flavored marshmallows at the grocery store. Pumpkin spice is everywhere! I love to eat a rich, dense pumpkin bar slathered in cream cheese frosting, or a piece of pumpkin pie drowned in whipped cream. And while I’m not a big fan of eating apples, I do enjoy a warm apple crisp with a scoop of ice cream on a cool autumn day. These treats are best when eaten during the harvest, so I consider them a part of autumn.

For nearly nine months of the year, I am cold. Even if I lived in a warmer climate, I think I would be chilled for those same nine months. It’s just who I am. To deal with all that, I have a closet full of sweaters. Some of them I really like and I look forward to wearing them. It’s a wonderful feeling to put on a thick sweater to take off the chill of morning.